The Lancet
Jun 14, 2014 Volume 383 Number 9934 p2019 – 2098 e19 – 21
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

Editorial
Ending sexual violence in conflict and beyond
The Lancet
Today’s Lancet has a special focus on sexual violence in conflict to coincide with the first Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in London, June 10–14. War zone sexual violence and other forms of gender-based violence inflict extreme suffering and represent serious violations of human rights. These crimes leave physical, psychological, social, and economic scars on individuals, families, and communities. And shamefully, most of the perpetrators are never brought to justice.

Comment
Mass gatherings medicine: international cooperation and progress
Ziad A Memish a b, Alimuddin Zumla c, Brian McCloskey d, David Heymann e f, Abdullah A Al Rabeeah a, Maurizio Barbeschi g, Richard Horton h
Excerpt
In July, 2012, we discussed plans to move the complex public health issues surrounding mass gatherings into a formal scientific discipline, and to create a global network for mass gatherings research, training, and capacity development.1, 2 We believed that it was important for this network to be led by Saudi Arabia, since the country has extensive experience through many decades of managing millions of pilgrims from 184 countries at the largest yearly recurring religious mass gathering in the world—the Hajj. Subsequently, the Saudi Government and WHO3 strongly supported mass gatherings medicine as a scientific discipline, establishing the Saudi Global Center for Mass Gathering Medicine (GCMGM), with its headquarters in Riyadh and membership from other Gulf countries,4 and a virtual research network linked with other WHO collaborating centres for mass gatherings. This network has brought together global academic and public health institutions with complementary expertise to gather and translate the most appropriate public health policy evidence for use by countries that host, or plan to host, mass gathering events…
…Mass gatherings medicine provides an opportunity to generate a wealth of knowledge and expertise, and sharing the experiences of organisers can assist in shaping a positive legacy and provide valuable lessons for organisers of future events. The value to planners of mass gatherings and their governments in sharing best practices is clear, as is the need for new operational research into mass gatherings, with systematic collection and analysis of data to inform planning activities for future events. Through provision of scientific evidence, the GCMGM aims to drive the best health promotion and prevention guidelines and practice, including health education for attendees of mass gatherings across different contexts. The Hajj provides an ideal model for research into mass gatherings that recur yearly in the same location, and the very large sporting events provide a different context and complementary opportunities for research and training. Substantial gaps in research remain, particularly in relation to mass gatherings in low-resource settings and in unplanned or spontaneous mass gatherings….

Lancet Series –mass gatherings medicine
Hajj: infectious disease surveillance and control
Prof Ziad A Memish FRCPC a b c d, Prof Alimuddin Zumla FRCP a e f, Rafat F Alhakeem MD a d, Abdullah Assiri MD d, Abdulhafeez Turkestani MD d, Khalid D Al Harby MD d, Mohamed Alyemni PhD d, Khalid Dhafar MD d, Philippe Gautret MD g, Maurizio Barbeschi PhD a h, Brian McCloskey MD a i, Prof David Heymann MD a j k, Abdullah A Al Rabeeah FRCS a d, Jaffar A Al-Tawfiq FACP l m
Summary
Religious festivals attract a large number of pilgrims from worldwide and are a potential risk for the transmission of infectious diseases between pilgrims, and to the indigenous population. The gathering of a large number of pilgrims could compromise the health system of the host country. The threat to global health security posed by infectious diseases with epidemic potential shows the importance of advanced planning of public health surveillance and response at these religious events. Saudi Arabia has extensive experience of providing health care at mass gatherings acquired through decades of managing millions of pilgrims at the Hajj. In this report, we describe the extensive public health planning, surveillance systems used to monitor public health risks, and health services provided and accessed during Hajj 2012 and Hajj 2013 that together attracted more than 5 million pilgrims from 184 countries. We also describe the recent establishment of the Global Center for Mass Gathering Medicine, a Saudi Government partnership with the WHO Collaborating Centre for Mass Gatherings Medicine, Gulf Co-operation Council states, UK universities, and public health institutions globally.